Bullpups continue passing prowess, 47-8

Saturday

Sep 29, 2012 at 12:16 AMSep 29, 2012 at 12:18 AM

McPherson High is now 4-1 on the season.

By Steve SellSentinel Sports Editor

McPherson High football coach Tom Young had to make a call to the bullpen here Friday night.When starting quarterback Kyler Kinnamon came up with an ailing shoulder about an hour before kickoff, Young was forced to employ Plan B.And that was swapping Kinnamon with wide receiver Marcus Houghton.All Houghton did was complete his first nine passes and was 13 of 17 for 317 yards and four touchdowns — and that was just in the first half.“That doesn’t surprise me, Marcus playing well,” Young said. “He’s very talented. He showed that in the preseason and showed that in the summertime in 7-on-7s.” He finished 16 of 20 for 364 yards, as the Bullpups won in surprisingly lopsided fashion on homecoming night, 47-8.And Kinnamon, who could run but not throw, still figured prominently. He made five catches for 169 yards and a touchdown -- an 86-yard beauty —by the time the game reached intermission with MHS up 34-8.The Bullpups are now 4-0 in Division III and 4-1 overall. They go to Mulvane Friday with a chance to win the league title outright. Mulvane got past Rose Hill 20-13 on Friday.Winfield stunned the Bullpups on the game’s first play when Sam Camp went up top 65 yards to a wide-open Ryan Minton, then tacked on a 2-point conversion for an 8-0 lead.But all that did was grab MHS’ attention, as it scored on its first four possessions while the defense went into lockdown mode. The Bullpups finally were stopped on their fifth possession, but a six-play drive that covered 66 yards and took only 43 seconds late in the half pushed lead to 34-8, as MHS piled up an insane 411 yards.Houghton’s other first-half scoring tosses were to Dalton Clark, Keaton Sorenson and Austin O’Bannon, who also rushed for another score to complete the first half.The Bullpups basically pulled the plug on the passing game in the second half, going to the ground-and-pound attack. O’Bannon scored a pair of short TD runs to make it 47-8 by the end of the third quarter.The MHS JVs played the fourth quarter and put together a drive that melted six minutes off the clock and also came up with a fourth-down defensive stand to regain possession.“It was a big surprise,” Young said. “I never imagined we’d come away with a win with that large of a margin. Our kids played a really great game on both sides of the ball.”The Bullpups finished with 595 yards of total offense, 369 through the air and 226 on the ground. Kinnamon had 191 yards on six catches and O’Bannon rushed for 121 on 26 totes.Winfield added only 91 yards of total offense after its first play, as it accumulated 156 yards.“They caught us off guard a little bit (with the first play), “ Young said. “We messed up our coverage and paid for that, but after that we played some really good defense.”STATISTICSMHS Listed FirstFirst Downs — 28, 5. Rushes-Yards — 52-226; 26-87. Passing — 17-22-0-364; 2-10-0-69. Punts-Avg. — 0-0; 6-36.0. Fumbles-Lost —2-0; 1-0. Penalties-Yards — 6-50; 4-16.INDIVIDUALLEADERSRushingMHS — O’Bannon 26-121, Houghton 6-32, Kinnamon 3-22, Nutter 6-21, Clark 4-17, Hart 5-10, Dick 2-3.Winfield — Amezcua 14-40, Mays 2-24, Camp 10-23.PassingMHS — Houghton 16-20-0-364, Dick 1-2-1-5.Winfield — Camp 2-9-1-69; Adler 0-1-0-0.ReceivingMHS — Kinnamon 6-191, Mowery 3-37, Sorenson 2-71, Clark 2-34, Hamilton 1-1, Bahr 1-8, Bryant 1-5, O’Bannon 1-2.Winfield — Minton 1-65, Mays 1-4.